Has Augmented Depression Therapy (ADepT) eclipsed CBT as the new gold standard for treating depression?

Thursday, September 6, 2023… the heat dome ends Sunday as we slip into fall…

Most couples therapists will tell you with great confidence that cognitive behavioral therapy is the gold standard for treating depression.

The reason why I’ve written a bit more than most relationship bloggers about various forms of depression is because 41% of couples entering therapy have at least one clinically depressed partner.

CBT had been the standard because it is effective in dampening the intensity, som humans might feel less overall negative emotions, but CBT does little to increase their positive emotions.

There just might be a new sheriff in town. An emerging, novel type of positive therapy for depression could be more effective than the cognitive-behavioral model we’ve been relying on for decades, according to a new pilot study.

What is Augmented Depression Therapy (ADepT)?

• Augmented Depression Therapy, (ADepT), resembles CBT, but is more keenly looking to improve a human’s overall well-being.

• Typically, in CBT, clients are taught to keenly focus on things such as “negative” thinking and how it can be dispersed — CBT is mainly focused on symptom reduction.

• While also addressing negative symptoms, ADepT puts a greater value on clients improving their well-being by installing “positive” emotions.

  Aligning with values to confront anhedonia

What’s anhedonia?

• One of the key symptoms of depression for some people is anhedonia, the inability or lack of interest in feeling pleasure.

There are two main types of anhedonia:

• Social anhedonia: You prefer not to spend time with other people.

• Physical anhedonia: You find no pleasure in physical sensations. A hug leaves you feeling pressed, rather than nurtured. Your favorite foods taste like sand. Eroticism fades, and even the notion of sexual release seems a chore.

How is ADepT different from CBT?

In ADepT, patients are encouraged to take part in meaningful activities that are linked to their core values.

It is similar to behavioral activation therapy, which helps people identify and starting doing activities that make them feel better.

Professor Barney Dunn, the study’s first author, reported:

“Depression is widespread and a significant contributor to global disability, resulting in extensive social and economic costs.

Only around 60% of people will recover during our current best treatments like CBT and about half of those will relapse within two years.”

How the study was conducted

The study included 82 people with moderate to severe depression.

Researchers randomly assigned participants to either receive standard cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) or ADepT.

Professor Barney Dunn explained:

“In ADepT, we encourage clients to take a new perspective to their difficulties, aiming to learn to live well alongside depressed mood.

The primary goal is to help clients identify what is important to them in key life areas, take steps towards living a life in a way that is consistent with these values, and to take opportunities and manage challenges while they do so that they can experience well-being and pleasure.”

• The results showed that ADepT produced larger gains in quality of life for participants than CBT from the same number of sessions (20). This. kind of measurement matters in an insurance-driven mental health marketplace.

• But wait… there’s more….humans who received ADepT therapy had measurably fewer depressive symptoms, and also had remarkably higher levels of well-being than those who received CBT — even when followed up 18 months later!

Obviously because this was a pilot study, more rigorous clinical trials will be needed to demonstrate whether or not . AdepT is really a clinical leap forward from standard CBT. This, unfortunately will take years.

Because of that, I wanted my gentle readers to know about the ADepT treatment for depression asap, so they might explore ADepT, and learn more about it, as it will become a new, emerging treatment option.

Be well, stay kind, and Godspeed.

RESEARCH:

Dunn, B.D., Widnall, E., Reed, N. et al. Evaluating Augmented Depression Therapy (ADepT): study protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial. Pilot Feasibility Stud 5, 63 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40814-019-0438-1